The official NCAA tournament thread

[Lathum]

Best three weeks in sports. Discuss.

[Chief Rum]

The NCAA probably just handed Steve Alford another 2-3 years at his UCLA gig. Much to the depression of us fans following along.

[rowech]

How Dayton only gets an 11 seed is beyond me. Then they give them a home game with the play-in? Seems absurd.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by rowech

How Dayton only gets an 11 seed is beyond me. Then they give them a home game with the play-in? Seems absurd.

Yeah. That whole situation is silly. At least make ucla the play in

[Lathum]

Dola
Dayton has a very short squad with only six scholarship players and now they have a short turn around.

[JonInMiddleGA]

UCLA was the last team in to dodge a play-in ... but if UConn had gotten the upset then apparently Dayton would have stayed home entirely

2015 NCAA Tournament: Selection committee releases 1-68 ranking - CBSSports.com

[Jas_lov]

Which is a joke. If Dayton had beaten VCU today would VCU had been in danger of missing the tournament? UCLA shouldn't have been in at all.

They shouldn't make the teams that won automatic bids play the play in games. The last 8 at larges should play the play the four play in games. Then you at least make teams like UCLA and Texas play their way in.

[rowech]

I don't pay attention like I used to but all I kept seeing was Indiana was on the bubble and most likely out. Seems as if they were safe all the way?

[Groundhog]

I'm not surprised, but I don't see how Duke get a #1 seed over Virginia.

[SackAttack]

No Mizzou (lol), no UWGB, no interest. See you next year, NCAA.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by rowech

I don't pay attention like I used to but all I kept seeing was Indiana was on the bubble and most likely out. Seems as if they were safe all the way?

Looks like IU's poor run down the stretch wasn't weighed in much, while quality wins earlier in the season were.

[corbes]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

They shouldn't make the teams that won automatic bids play the play in games. The last 8 at larges should play the play the four play in games.

+1

[Atocep]

Dayton was the last at-large team to get in. Ridiculous.

The NCAA needs to move on from the bullshit it's been looking at for 20 years and actually embrace the plethora of data available today.

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

No Mizzou (lol), no UWGB, no interest. See you next year, NCAA.

Bye!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

I'm not surprised, but I don't see how Duke get a #1 seed over Virginia.

There's really no justification for UVA ahead of Duke at this point.

They're a half game different in record (29-4 vs 29-3) ...
Duke has SOS of 9, UVA 27.
Duke RPI 5, UVA 7.
Duke beat them head to head at UVA.

And that's without even considering the state of the Cavs with Anderson's health issues.

[RainMaker]

How did UCLA get in?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

Which is a joke. If Dayton had beaten VCU today would VCU had been in danger of missing the tournament? UCLA shouldn't have been in at all.

I can't really defend UCLA being in ... but if Ole Miss & LSU are tournament teams then anything is possible.

Truth is, 68 is 4 too many.

[RainMaker]

I mean even if UCLA gets in, they should have been in the play-in game.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

How did UCLA get in?

Those four letters...

U.C.L.A.

[tarcone]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

The NCAA probably just handed Steve Alford another 2-3 years at his UCLA gig. Much to the depression of us fans following along.

Enjoy! It will take him that long to run the program into the abyss. Hope UCLA doesnt hire a Todd Lickliter type coach next. Then you will see what the bottom looks like.

Iowa could face Iowa State in the elite 8 and then UNI in the final 4. In theory anyway.

[MizzouRah]

Kentucky runs the table?

[Lathum]

You have to assume they do.

[cartman]

Nate Silver gives them a 41% chance.

2015 March Madness Predictions | FiveThirtyEight

[EagleFan]

Temple got robbed.

[Chief Rum]

So Gottlieb goes off on UCLA getting in, saying they got demolished by Arizona twice (they didn't even get demolished once), and then 15 minutes later, he picks them to beat higher seed SMU in the first round.

What a lousy toad of an analyst.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by cartman

Nate Silver gives them a 41% chance.

2015 March Madness Predictions | FiveThirtyEight

That bracket is cool yet at the same time hella annoying, as I can't see the center of it when scrolled down to the teams at the bottom. My laptop screen just isn't large enough.

edit: yeah, it works if I tell FF to zoom out. PITA though.

[digamma]

Poor Yale. Last Saturday night they're less than 2 seconds from an NCAA bid. Yesterday they're less than 2 minutes from an NCAA bid and lose on a shot with 7 seconds left. Today they get snubbed by the NIT and were too late to sign up for the CBI and CIT because they waited for the NIT selections.

Pulled hard against them yesterday but this is rough for that team. They deserved more games.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by digamma

Poor Yale. Last Saturday night they're less than 2 seconds from an NCAA bid. Yesterday they're less than 2 minutes from an NCAA bid and lose on a shot with 7 seconds left. Today they get snubbed by the NIT and were too late to sign up for the CBI and CIT because they waited for the NIT selections.

Pulled hard against them yesterday but this is rough for that team. They deserved more games.

Why would the CBI and CIT finalize their fields before the NIT announced its field? That just seems terribly stupid.

[molson]

I read that Oregon St., TCU, and Cal turned down the CBI after not getting into the NIT, and that CBI was actually scrambling until pretty late Sunday night to find willing teams to pay the entry fee. So they end up with 15-17 Colorado instead of any of several better power conference teams that didn't make the NIT, and Seattle, who was #280 in the RPI.

The CIT is the one that signs mid-majors up even before the NCAA tournament field is announced. Dartmouth was in at some point even before today. Not sure when it filled up.

With those two tournaments I think it's just more about selling those spots and whatever works schedule and geography-wise. You'd think there has to be other NIT-bubble teams that get left out and are willing to play in another tournament, but maybe all those deals are made before today, and Yale just decided it was NIT or bust.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Why would the CBI and CIT finalize their fields before the NIT announced its field? That just seems terribly stupid.

Aren't those both pretty much pay-to-play?

As long as they're getting paid by somebody, I'm not sure how much they care who the checks are from.

edit to add: Molson was posting pretty much the same thing while I was typing I guess

[JonInMiddleGA]

The 12 auto-bids for the NIT surely had to hamper Yale's chances (along with Michigan's and some others I guess). Of the 12, 10 are lowest seeds possible (all 4 8's, all 4 7's and 2 of the 6's are autobid teams).

Only Murray State & La Tech would have gotten in otherwise, based on the seedings.

[molson]

It's somewhat amusing that in a year with no Syracuse in the tournament, both Albany and Buffalo are in, and the East Regional final will be in Syracuse.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Truth is, 68 is 4 too many.

More or less how I feel. I don't mind an expanded tournament from 64, but the reality seems to be that the extra 4 seeds go to power conference schools while the mid-major conference champions have to play-in just to play with the "big boys."

Fuck the "big boys," if that's how they're gonna play it. Get rid of those 4 seeds, put those four power conference coaches back on the hot seat, and let's play.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by molson

I read that Oregon St., TCU, and Cal turned down the CBI after not getting into the NIT, and that CBI was actually scrambling until pretty late Sunday night to find willing teams to pay the entry fee. So they end up with 15-17 Colorado instead of any of several better power conference teams that didn't make the NIT, and Seattle, who was #280 in the RPI.

The CIT is the one that signs mid-majors up even before the NCAA tournament field is announced. Dartmouth was in at some point even before today. Not sure when it filled up.

With those two tournaments I think it's just more about selling those spots and whatever works schedule and geography-wise. You'd think there has to be other NIT-bubble teams that get left out and are willing to play in another tournament, but maybe all those deals are made before today, and Yale just decided it was NIT or bust.

Right on the CIT. They secure commitments early.

Not clear what happened on the CBI. The Hartford paper says Yale wasn't invited. I would think they were approached earlier in the day with a commit and you're in and wanted to wait out the NIT process. Not clear what happened after. It doesn't make sense to me that they would have turned down a slot after the NIT selection. First their coach's reaction was one of shock their season wasn't continuing. Second they played in one of those tournaments last year so they're typically willing to pay the cash.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Lathum

You have to assume they do.

The scary thing to me is.. I'm not sure we have seen the best from them yet.

Their 2nd team could make the tournament.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by molson

It's somewhat amusing that in a year with no Syracuse in the tournament, both Albany and Buffalo are in, and the East Regional final will be in Syracuse.

Speculatively, would the Orange have been around a 12-seed?

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

Speculatively, would the Orange have been around a 12-seed?

Nah, they were NIT-quality this year, anyhow.

[cartman]

FOFC Colossal Squid bracket challenge on Yahoo! is set up again. For those who participated last year, you should get an invite.

Group Invitation | Tourney Pick'em | Yahoo Sports
pwd: trout

[Marmel]

Originally Posted by britrock88

Nah, they were NIT-quality this year, anyhow.

Not so fast....if they were given a chance to play in the ACC tournament, they would have opened with Clemson, then got another shot at Virginia, most likely. Beat Clemson would keep them on the bubble. Beating Virginia would have put them in the tournament.

Probably an NIT team, but they had wins vs Iowa (10 seed?) Notre Dame (3 seed), Louisville (4 seed), OT loss vs Villanova (1 seed - which apparently matters, see the talking heads response on why UCLA got in...they played AZ close????).

Bottom line, they had a decent chance.

[Butter]

Dayton fans are a bit up in arms about this. I guess we should feel happy to be in and have a home game, but we are feeling snubbed that we were literally the last team in and a team like Ole Miss that we actually played and beat was seeded ahead of us.

In the brief interviews I heard with the NCAA Selection guy, he sounded clueless. He was almost unable to have a conversation around anything like "metrics" and was instead quoting things like the "eye test"? Why not just come straight out and say that the system is designed to leave out anyone outside of the Power 5 unless you have an AMAZING year or kowtow to play Power 5 teams in straight road games with no return guarantee.

When you are given no feedback about where anyone stands and the seeds below a 7 or so seem to have been done with a dartboard, then that makes it real hard for anyone that's not a Power 5 team to feel like they should have any faith in the system.

At any rate, I suppose I should just be grateful that UD is in. I have my ticket already for Wednesday night so will be there to hopefully cheer UD on to victory.

Frankly though, as someone noted since UD only plays 7 players, was hoping they might get a few days off before having to play 2 games in 3 days. Now they get a tougher 2nd round game if they can even get past a team that is probably also feeling pretty snubbed itself.

[Butter]

Not to mention how this sucks for Boise State to have to be in this situation also.

[Lathum]

I don't get the Dayton thing either, no way they should have been last team in. And it really screws BSU having to fly 2K miles and play a road game.

[Chief Rum]

I feel bad for the teams that are barely in and barely out. Feeling bad for the barely out should be obvious, and the barely in because they pretty much all get their "qualifications" questioned for four days.

I'm not going to breakdown who is better, if Dayton should be in clearly, if Indiana or Ole Miss or UCLA or Texas should be in the play in game or out of the tournament in place of Murray State or Colorado State or whomever.

I'll just say, everyone in this conversation is in the conversation legitimately. As in, you may not believe that UCLA should be in, but they did enough to be in the conversation, with respect to RPI, schedule, opponents faced, how they finished, etc. The same goes for all the others. They may not all deserve to be tournament teams because only 68 get in (and something like 12-16 of those are auto bid small teams), but they all are close enough to be considered, so they all had at least solid seasons.

And second, we're talking 11-12 seeds here. These guys aren't going anywhere. They can pull off an upset here and there, but none of these teams are even getting to the Final Four, much less threatening to win a championship.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I feel bad for the teams that are barely in and barely out. Feeling bad for the barely out should be obvious, and the barely in because they pretty much all get their "qualifications" questioned for four days.

I'm not going to breakdown who is better, if Dayton should be in clearly, if Indiana or Ole Miss or UCLA or Texas should be in the play in game or out of the tournament in place of Murray State or Colorado State or whomever.

I'll just say, everyone in this conversation is in the conversation legitimately. As in, you may not believe that UCLA should be in, but they did enough to be in the conversation, with respect to RPI, schedule, opponents faced, how they finished, etc. The same goes for all the others. They may not all deserve to be tournament teams because only 68 get in (and something like 12-16 of those are auto bid small teams), but they all are close enough to be considered, so they all had at least solid seasons.

And second, we're talking 11-12 seeds here. These guys aren't going anywhere. They can pull off an upset here and there, but none of these teams are even getting to the Final Four, much less threatening to win a championship.

Of course that's your attitude, because you're a UCLA fan. But for teams like Dayton, just being able to compete against teams that won't give them the time of day normally (see Ohio State) is a big deal. Getting to the Elite 8 last year is a HUGE FUCKING DEAL.

Having the ability to win a couple of games and get to the Sweet 16 means something to us. It might not mean dick to an outsider, but it means a hell of a lot to a program whose main claim to fame is that we took UCLA to triple overtime in a tournament game during their 70's heyday, and lost to UCLA in a title game in the sixties.... Otherwise, UD was most prominent when the NIT was a big deal.

Just having Dayton's name in the spotlight for two weeks last year was probably the highlight of my sports fandom (outside of the 1990 Reds World Series title) because we finally got credit for something besides being that place that is so boring that people will show up to watch North Florida and Robert Morris play.

[Butter]

Also noticed on 538 that UD is the second most-likely double-digit seed to make the Sweet 16 and third most likely to make the Elite 8 thanks to our draw, so I guess I should be glad that we didn't end up an 8 in Kentucky's bracket or something.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

And second, we're talking 11-12 seeds here. These guys aren't going anywhere. They can pull off an upset here and there, but none of these teams are even getting to the Final Four, much less threatening to win a championship.

Not really sure how you can say that given the number of lower seeds that have made runs in recent years.

[gstelmack]

If you don't win your conference tourney, just be happy to be there, and shut up if you're not.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Of course that's your attitude, because you're a UCLA fan. But for teams like Dayton, just being able to compete against teams that won't give them the time of day normally (see Ohio State) is a big deal. Getting to the Elite 8 last year is a HUGE FUCKING DEAL.

Having the ability to win a couple of games and get to the Sweet 16 means something to us. It might not mean dick to an outsider, but it means a hell of a lot to a program whose main claim to fame is that we took UCLA to triple overtime in a tournament game during their 70's heyday, and lost to UCLA in a title game in the sixties.... Otherwise, UD was most prominent when the NIT was a big deal.

Just having Dayton's name in the spotlight for two weeks last year was probably the highlight of my sports fandom (outside of the 1990 Reds World Series title) because we finally got credit for something besides being that place that is so boring that people will show up to watch North Florida and Robert Morris play.

I hear ya. Dayton does deserve better.

For what it's worth, UCLA's inclusion in this tournament is a very mixed bag for us Bruins fans. Of course, we're thrilled to make the tournament. We'll always root for the kids on the team and the university they represent.

But no one believes Alford is a good coach. In fact, he's kinda terrible, as a coach, as a person, as a personnel manager, as a scout and as a recruiter. And he's arrogant. And an extremely blind nepotist. He's one of the worst coach/human beings in basketball, as far as I can tell from afar.

He might have been fired today (or after the NIT), if he hadn't made the tourney. The nation would have vilified UCLA and its overblown" expectations because they don't understand that this was a Mike Gillespie, Mike Doherty situation at a blue blood school. That he is that bad.

But those following the program and college basketball junkies (especially out west) and in general basketball insiders/reporters and so forth all understand what kinda shit Alford is dealing at UCLA.

Making the tournament means we're stuck with him for probably 2-3 more seasons. It will be awful. Steve Lavin awful. Worse.

I am reduced to hoping/praying that his son inexplicably puts his name in for the draft.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Not really sure how you can say that given the number of lower seeds that have made runs in recent years.

Sure I can. None of those lower seeds have won a championship.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Sure I can. None of those lower seeds have won a championship.

Well then I guess the tournament should be cut to 8-10 teams.

And you said not going anywhere, VCU made a final 4 a few years ago. Worked out pretty well for them.